Second Wind
by Candace Marie
Summary: After the famous end of GWTW, Scarlett is transported to the past, to right when she had her first conversation with Rhett Butler. Armed with the knowledge of the past, how can one Southern Belle affect the lives of many, can she change the lives of Charlie Hamilton, Frank Kennedy, Ashley Wilkes and most importantly Rhett Butler? Can she save her daughter's life?
1. Chapter 1

The Mist

"All I know is that you do not love me and you are going away!" Scarlett exclaimed in her Irish way, her temper threatening to overwhelm her. She kept it contained…just barely, as the tears poured down her face, as she looked at the one man she had always loved, would always love, and professed for the last time. "My darling, if you go, what shall I do?"

"Scarlett," he said, his voice as smooth as silk, "I was never one to patiently pick up broken fragments and glue them together and tell myself that the mended were as good as new. What is broken is broken-and I'd rather remember it as it was at its best then mend the broken pieces as long as I lived. Perhaps, if I were younger…" he let the sentence trail off as he sighed, "But I'm too old to believe in such sentiments as clean slates and starting over. I'm too old to shoulder the burden of constant lies that go hand in hand with living in polite disillusionment. I couldn't live with you and lie to myself. I can't even lie to you now. I wish I could care what you do and where you go but I can't." Rhett drew in a short breath and sighed and said very lightly, "Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn," he replied, retrieving his hat and shutting the door quietly, leaving her alone.

Scarlett let out a shriek as she grabbed the nearest vase, it was one he had brought back from London or maybe Paris she wondered absently as her Irish temper got the best of her and she hurled it at the closed door. With the sound of his feet dying away, and the pain in her throat threatening to strangle her, Scarlett O'Hara Hamilton Kennedy Butler realized that her husband had meant every word that he had spoken. She knew because she sensed within him something strong, unyielding, implacable-all the qualities she had looked for in Ashley but never found. She had never understood either man that she had loved. She realized Rhett had been right all along. She had never understood either Ashley or Rhett and so she had lost them both. Yes, she could go to Ashley on this very night and he would do the honorable thing, she sneered over the word honorable, as Rhett used to, yes she could have Ashley if she still wanted him, but she no longer did. If it wasn't for her promise to Melly she would never see him again. If she had understood Ashley she would have never loved him, and if she had understood Rhett she would never have lost him. She wondered if she had ever understood anyone in her world.

She had been so consumed by her thoughts that she hadn't noticed the mist swirling up and around her, even though she was indoors, standing on the deep velvet red carpet that she had so adored. She could faintly hear sounds and as she turned around she heard a chuckle from Rhett. What was he doing here? She wondered, hadn't he just left her. With stark realization, she noticed the couch behind her. She was at Twelve Oaks, in their library, where she had first spoken to Rhett. She couldn't help but stare at Rhett, a much younger Rhett, a Rhett that hadn't been consumed by grief and alcohol.

"Has the war started?" he asked, just as he had the first time.

"Sir," she stated, her heart thumping so that she could feel the pounding in the pulse at her neck. "You should have made yourself known."

He laughed, and she felt the corners of her lips curve up into a smile. "In the middle of that love scene? That wouldn't have been very tactful now would it?"

"Rhett?" she whispered, wondering what it was he was talking about, although to him it had happened mere moments ago, it had been years for her. She was vaguely aware that she had professed her love for Ashley, only to be rebuked for his love for Melanie. Melly. Melly was alive.

"I'm sorry, have we met before?" Rhett asked, taking in the familiarity in which she had addressed him.

"I only know of your reputation, sir. You are no gentleman," she retorted.

"And you miss, are no lady." Scarlett paid no heed to his words as she sat down on the couch before him.

"Is it true that you were expelled from West Point?" she asked. He laughed again, surprised at her bold question.

"I see my reputation precedes me. So you have been warned about me? Don't you know that well-bred young ladies would rather die that be seen with the notorious Captain Rhett Butler."

"Oh Fiddle Dee Dee, with enough courage you can deal without a reputation," she intoned airily, opening and closing the door behind her, if nothing else; Scarlett O'Hara knew how to make an exit. She noticed everyone running around like chickens with their head cut off, and was vaguely aware of Charles Hamilton telling her about the war. She looked out the window and saw Ashley talking to Melanie.

"It's war, Ms. O'Hara," he was saying, and for the life of her, he looked just as much like a lamb to the slaughter as he had the last time he had proposed. "Will you be sorry, to see us go?" he asked her.

"I'll cry into my pillow every night," she stated airily, paying little heed to the words she said, or what Melanie's brother was saying. She would need a good reason to become friends with Melanie, even if she didn't particularly care for Ashley, she loved Melly.

"Will you wait for me?" he asked, and she looked at him, realizing he had proposed.

"Yes, Mr. Hamilton, I will wait for you," she said, knowing that he wouldn't make it past the first few months of war. Did it make her cold to accept his proposal knowing that he wouldn't live to honor it? Honey was supposed to marry him, she remembered, the Wilkes and Hamilton's always married their cousins. She wouldn't have Wade, and the thought shook her though she knew it would be one less mouth to feed when the war reached Tara. She would have to convince her Pa to keep their money in gold instead of exchanging it for Confederate paper, but how could she a mere girl to her father convince him of that? Maybe she should talk to Rhett, would he be able to sway her father's mind? She was vaguely aware of Charlie leaving to speak with her father as she found Melanie at her side.

"It's so sad, isn't it?" Scarlett found herself saying, "Our boys, our men racing off to fight a pointless war, reaching for stars they will never touch only to come home with the stars burned out, merely a shadow of their former selves that is if they come home at all."

"Why Scarlett, I never thought I would hear such things from you!" Melanie cried shocked. "Don't you believe in our Cause?"

"I believe in our families, and protecting our young, not in senseless fighting," Scarlett replied. "Admit it, Melanie Hamilton, you don't want them to go anymore than I do," Scarlett said, her eyes twinkling.

"No, I don't but they will do what they believe they have to. They are protecting their women; you can't fault them for that."

"If its protecting their women, they are after then they would do it better by remaining at home," Scarlett replied.

"They will do what they feel is right."

"Then, I believe, Melly that we are going to have to agree to disagree. Congratulations on your engagement to Ashley," Scarlett said, offering her a hand.

"And to yours as well, you are to marry my brother Charles?" Melanie asked.

"Yes, I am, I would be honored if you were to be my matron of honor," Scarlett said to her, a genuine smile on her face, even if the wedding would never take place. "I must admit," Scarlett continued, "I hope you can understand Ashley better than I. I find him to be somewhat of a loner," Scarlett said. She watched as Melanie glowed.

"Ashley just spends most of his time wrapped away in his books; it's a trait we all should be lucky enough to possess. We often trade books and speak at length about our interputations," Melanie said to her. Scarlett smiled.

"Then I wish you all the happiness and luck in the world. May you be fruitful, Melanie," Scarlett said, knowing this was Melly's most freverant hope. Melly colored and made her excuses leaving Scarlett alone. Or so she had thought.

"Don't you know Ms. O'Hara that well-brought up ladies don't discuss child-bearing," came the dark dangerous voice to taunt her. She turned around and smiled looking straight into his dark eyes.

"Did I ever tell you, Rhett…?"

"And they don't refer to gentlemen they just met on a first-name basis."

"Very well, Captain Butler," Scarlett continued. "That I once went to see a fortune teller…Mammy Jincy…" Scarlett had had trouble recalling the name from so long ago, "She said I was going to marry a gentleman with jet-black hair and a long black mustache," she whispered to him as if she was telling a secret. He threw his head back and roared.

"My dear, I am not a marrying man."

"All men must marry, Captain Butler," she said as she left him and went to find her Pa, if war was coming she had a lot to do to ensure that Tara were to survive, this time.


	2. Tara

Tara

Katie Scarlett O'Hara awoke the next morning, in her own bed at Tara. Tara as it was before the war. She got up and donned on a regular dress, no party dress for her now that the war had ended. She remembered the last time, how she had been busy with hastily made wedding plans, despite her mother's objections, her father had sided with her and Charlie Hamilton. Well, this time even though she was engaged to Charlie she had made no such promises to marry him before the war that would come, had come, she corrected herself, although she wouldn't see the horrors of the war until after she returned from Atlanta. She heard Suellen's whiney voice. God, she thought, how had she ever stood that vapid sister of hers?

"And then Ashley Wilkes announced his marriage to Melanie Hamilton, I expect they will marry any day now," Suellen said to gall her.

"Well, I for one, hope they have a wonderful life together," Scarlett said, refusing to rise to the bait.

"Did I tell you Mrs. O'Hara that a Charles Hamilton from Atlanta approached me asking for me daughter's hand in marriage?"

"What did you say, Mr. O'Hara," Ellen's voice was merely curious.

"I said what I've always said before, that choice is left up to our Katie Scarlett. Do you wish to marry him my dear?" Gerald said in his Irish brogue.

"I think I would get along well with his family," Scarlett edged; she was not in a mood to lie to her parents, any more than she had to. She couldn't exactly announce to Gerald and Ellen O'Hara that she had already lived through the horrors of the War, and that the Yankees would lick them, that she had been married three times and suffered through four pregnancies, could she? Not to mention the fact that she had owned both a store and a lumber business and succeeded in both. And she and Rhett had set Atlanta on its ear with their combined disregard for the Old Guard. That she understood the loss of a child better than her mother could ever think to understand, the moment Bonnie had died, part of her had died with her beloved child. She knew this time she would not marry Frank Kennedy, Suellen could have him, she did not wish to have to deal with that old maid in britches and Suellen could have Ella as well, all she wanted was Rhett and Bonnie. Could she keep Bonnie alive this time? She had been such a willful, spoiled, sweet child, and Scarlett had loved her more than she had ever loved a child?

"Scarlett?" Ellen O'Hara asked her daughter, "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine, Mother, just wool-gathering," she replied.

"Everyone knows you are only marrying Charlie so you can cover up for the fact that you were chasing Ashley," Suellen said spitefully.

"I think it's wonderful that your getting married, Sister," Careen added. Scarlett narrowed her eyes on her youngest sister; did she really carry a torch for Stuart? Was there a way to protect him from the horror of Gettysburg?

"Do you think, Mother that I could visit Aunt Pauline in Charleston?" she asked. "It's been so long since I've seen them, and with the War starting there will be positively nothing to do in the County," Scarlett complained.

"You wish to see them before you start your married life?" Ellen O'Hara asked.

"Yes, very much so, Mother," Scarlett said, standing up and hugging her mother. She melted in her mother's embrace, leaning down and listening to the beat of her mother's heart, her mother was alive, and for now that was enough. Scarlett fretted about the future, she would have to be with Melanie or Little Beau would be in trouble, and she would have to find out all she could about birthing children, then perhaps Melanie could have more without sacrificing her life for a child.

"Well, I will send Prissy with you, would you like that?" Ellen asked, drawing back and studying her daughter's face. "You seem different, Scarlett, is everything okay?"

"It will be, Mother," Scarlett said, releasing her hold on her mother. "It's just the war," Scarlett said, the lie falling easily from her lips. "The Cause, I'm worried about the boys in the County."

"And you could have any of the bucks you want," Gerald intoned, pride evident in his Irish brogue. Surely, Rhett would come home to Charleston to visit his mother before he became a blockader, and if she remembered correctly her aunts were friends with Rhett's mother. How to get Gerald and Ellen to agree to let her marry that blackguard was a bigger question, one that she would think about when the time came.

"Yes, Mother, and then I would like to visit Pittypat and Melanie in Atlanta, if I'm going to marry Charles I should get to know them better, shouldn't I?" Scarlett asked, and Ellen could find no fault in her daughter's logic.

"Of course, that's a wonderful idea, Scarlett, although I hate to see you go when you will soon become a wife, I can't disagree. I will write the nessasarry letters. You should rest, my dear." Scarlett nodded and watched the regal bearing her mother displayed. Oh, to be a Great Lady like her mother, like Melanie, she wondered if it was even possible for one such as her.

"What do you have planned, Scarlett?" Suellen asked her, tugging on one of her sausage curls. "You may have Mother and Pa fooled, but not me, I know why you want to be in Atlanta, so you can be there to wait on Ashley when he gets his leave, to steal him out from his wife," she smirked, and Scarlett had the notion to rake her nails over Suellen's smug expression, but resisted, she knew that she had done her sister wrong but that didn't stop her from tugging on Sue's hair.

"Oh, hush up. You don't know what you are talking about." Scarlett laughed, a hard, brittle laugh from her time at the mills. "Careful, Suellen or you will wind up losing old whisker faced Frank Kennedy." That shut Suellen up even if Scarlett did feel mildly bad about it. Scarlett found a mirror and looked at her form for the first time since coming back to the past.  
She looked at her face, unmarred by the lines that had creased her face after the war, or the sharpness of her chin, that had disappeared, and her waist was the smallest it had ever been, her skin the whitest, and her dimples gleamed, and her hands were soft, ladies hands. It was strange for Scarlett to once again be under the care and guidance of her parents and part of her wished to escape if only to Charleston and Atlanta.


	3. Chapter 3

Charleston

Captain Rhett K. Butler couldn't get the Southern Belle from Georgia out of his mind. Though he had no doubt that she had been bred a lady, there were so many things about her that suggested the contrary. She had sat beside him on the couch, once she had noticed his presence, and although she had called him out, rightly assuming though he too, had been raised a gentlemen that he was not one, she boldly asked about West Point. No well brought up lady would have the gall to ask about such a subject, yet she did so, and after professing her love for the pale-faced Ashley Wilkes, she had told him that they would marry one day. Even now as he was on his way home to Charleston from Europe where he had discussed the impending war with them, he couldn't shake the image of the Southern Belle with the mischievous green eyes, who made little pretense in hiding who she was. For the first time in a long time, he wished his reputation was different for he knew of her family and there was no way the O'Hara's and Rollibard's would allow one such as him around her. He had made quiet inquiries to his mother of this young girl, barely past the blush of youth.

He had been surprised at the way the world worked, for his mother was on the best of terms with her great-aunts and she had regaled him with tales through her letters with stories of her parents and of her grandparents. It had been quite the scandal when Ellen Robillard, the prettiest of the children of the General and Solange had married Gerald O'Hara who had no family to speak of other than those in trade. There was some business with a cousin of hers, but that story had long since reached its peak and was shrouded in mystery much like Scarlett herself. It was said that she was to marry Charles Hamilton, and Rhett couldn't think of two people less suited for one another unless it was her and Ashley. Still, he wasn't a marrying man, and his interest in her was purely to satisfy his curiosity he told himself. She had two sisters who were real ladies he was told but lacked her inner fire. The second O'Hara girl, Suellen she was called, was as good as married to old-whiskered face Frank Kennedy, who was the reason Rhett had attended the Bar-B-Que to begin with. Rhett looked around the familiar Charleston city of his birth, of his childhood with mild disdain, if not for his mother and sister he would see this place burned to the ground. There was no love lost between himself and his father or his brother who was a carbon copy of his father.

He knew they still talked about him and his younger days. The fact that he had taken Corrine Winslow on a buggy ride, and even after it had rained she had insisted she didn't want to go home; it was her foolishness if she thought to trick him into marrying him. He had known Corrine since he was a child, and had found her simple and silly and he wouldn't be stuck with such as a wife. The true tragedy, Rhett thought, was that her brother had challenged him, and Rhett wasn't going to die when he could shoot better. That had been the last straw for Langston Butler and he had been ordered out of his family home and out of Charleston. He wondered if his father knew just how successful he had turned out. Rhett quickened the pace as he saw two female figured huddled together and looking around. Rhett smiled.

"Mother," he called, hugging her and quickly slipping some of his ill-gotten gains into her shawl. "It had been too long."

"Indeed it has, Rhett," Eleanor told her oldest child. "Did my letters reach you? Did the information help?" she asked as she drew back to kiss both of his cheeks and slip her hand into his. "Tell me you've at last fallen in love."

"No such luck," he told her. "I merely wanted to satisfy a curiosity that has plagued me for some time," he replied before turning his attention to his little sister. "Rosemary? Can that possible be you? When I left you were but a child, I see the years have been good to you, little sister."

"Oh, Rhett, you shouldn't flatter me so. You've always been so good to me," she replied, blushing under her brother's compliments.

"Did you tell him, Mother that Ms. O'Hara arrived two days ago?" Rosemary asked, her mother.

"I was just getting to that," Eleanor said easily "Don't worry about your reputation…if she's half the girl you think she is, things like that won't matter. I want my son to be happy," Eleanor said, using her mother's guilt to spur him on. "Before I die, I want to see my son happily married with children of his own."

"Well, there's always Ross, and besides Mother you look healthy," Rhett said, easily aware of her ploys.

"You never know…with the war coming…"Eleanor allowed the sentence to trail off. "You should speak with your father before you leave. You never know what this war may bring," Eleanor said, trying once again to mend the gap between two of the men she loved. She knew that her husband and her eldest son were so much alike, but prideful, both stubborn, and both loathe to admit they were wrong; somehow she must get them to bridge the gap. Rhett's father wasn't the young man he had once been, and he wasn't getting any younger.

"You say Ms. O'Hara is here and without the esteemed Mr. Hamilton?" Rhett asked, to change the subject. "What do you think of her?"

"She's very spirited, just as you describe."

"Mother thinks she's prefect for you," Rosemary added. "Although she seems most uncomfortable. At least with her aunts around, like she believes she's grown and doesn't need their constant supervision," Rosemary said, with a side-glance at her mother, Rosemary felt the same way at times and too always be watched by an adult was…maddening.

Rhett sent his mother and sister home in his carriage as he walked in the brisk rain. It was a new rain, and Rhett reveled in the smell of it. Rain always seemed to be cleansing to him, it had been in the rain that Rhett had taken out that silly Corrine, and it had rained after Rhett had shot her foolish brother, and it had rained when his father Langston Butler had thrown his eldest son and heir out of his home, and it rained now. Rain was cleansing and renewing. He walked around town, marveling at the changes since he had been here last. He spotted a creature in a maroon dress duck out into the rain as she slipped off maroon slippers and threw her head back and laughed, opening her mouth to let in the droplets of rain. Just who could that be in proper Charleston doing such an improper thing? Could that be Scarlett O'Hara? Where were the aunts, he wondered?

He quieted he steps as he came upon her much like a pirate from the Butler family legends. He seemed mesmerized by her for he had known women more beautiful than her and far more charming, what was it about her that made his skin feel as if he was singed by her, poisoned by the thought of her, and all he had done was gaze upon her. He tipped his hat as he came closer. "Good afternoon, Ms. O'Hara. It is still Ms. O'Hara isn't it? You haven't become the wife of Charlie Hamilton while I've been away." Without warning her decorum changed, her lips closed and she held herself stiffly, as if there was no way she could have been the girl dancing in the rain. He bent down to scoop up her shoes. "Allow me," he said as he reached for her small feet and put on her slippers. "It's much too wet to be dancing, my dear," he said.

"No, Captain Butler, I haven't married Charlie…yet." Rhett frowned, his eyes narrowed on the way she said yet. What kind of game was she playing with him?

"What are you doing in Charleston?" he asked her sharper than he had intended.

"I…that is…I came to see my aunts…before I marry." Rhett nodded, the reason seemed logical and yet there was something so…cat-like about her that he hesitated in believing her.

"Why are you engaged to that ninny?" Rhett asked her. "You know you will never make a happy marriage with him."

"And I suppose you know just who I should marry?" she shot back eyes flashing. "You think you are the proper person, Rhett Butler."

"I might be…if I was a marrying man. The only thing I can offer you, my dear, is a good time." Rhett didn't know who he was madder at her or him, or just the reaction she had on him. "And whatever happened to the estimable Ashley Wilkes, how does he fit in your plans?" Rhett asked jealously coursing through him, it was irrational, and yet it was there.

"I don't care if Ashley goes to the devil!" she screamed her face inches from his own, he struggled once against his more baser desires before giving in to the longing that overtook him and he placed his lips down over her own. Fire shot through him, fire and desire which was beyond his comprehension and making him regret his foolhardy mistake. He expected the young virgin to slap him, but she wrapped her arms around his neck pulling him closer, molding the top half of her body to his, Rhett pulled her into his arms, his arms holding her back as his tongue reached out to suck and nip on hers, and he felt the evidence of his desire assert itself. No woman had ever responded to him as this one did. He pulled away from her wondering just what game she was playing, and when he had lost.

"Rhett, oh, Rhett," she moaned his name, and Rhett blinked trying to fight the fog that she had cast over him. He set her on her feet, all but pushed her away, although he waited for her to steady herself.

"Come on, I'll take you back to your aunts," he added stiffly widening the distance between him. He had thought to mystify her but he was the one in a daze.

"But Rhett…don't you…I mean…do you…"

"What is it you are asking me, Ms. O'Hara? If I want you, you know that I do. I have to wonder if Charles Hamilton knows what he's getting in a wife," he sneered at her. Scarlett felt the blood drain from her face….he was suggesting that she was easy with her features, before she could stop herself; she had slapped him across the face.

"I hope a bullet goes off in your face….I hope it blows you to a million pieces, I hope the Yankees can't identify your body…"

"Yes, I follow your general direction."

"I hope I never see you again," she cried out, tears filling her eyes. They were real tears. Damn. Rhett felt bad for making her cry.

"I'll make this up to you, Scarlett. I didn't mean what I said," he said feeling strange. "How about I escort you to the Garden Party next week." She brightened, and smiled.

"Rhett, I don't…that's to say…you caught me off guard. I am pure," she finished, wondering if she was. Her body was, but her mind, and the experience she had was anything but pure. She knew of desire because Rhett had opened her up to desire. Rhett said nothing, just bowed as he took his leave of her, leaving a bewildered Scarlett in his wake. Had things between them always been so electric? If so, why had she ever followed Ashley's advice to not sleep with her husband, to have gone years without him in her bed?


	4. Garden Party

Garden Party

Scarlett was so nervous! She couldn't ever remember being so nervous except for the surprise birthday party Melly had thrown for Ashley, but that was for a much different reason. Scarlett considered adding rouge to her cheeks, but she hadn't done that until she'd had to approach Rhett in the horse's jail. She wondered idly if he really had taken off with the Confederate gold, and if he would be arrested again. She looked at her red dress, glad that this time she wasn't in mourning.

Of course, Charlie was still alive, he had lived a month longer than she had expected. What would she do if he survived and came home expecting to marry her? She pinched her cheeks and watched as the blood rushed to them. The top she had on was white with red lace along the bodice and the full skirt was a deep red, almost the color of the carpet she had loved in the home she and Rhett had shared. She was beautiful, she thought, Rhett would have to admire her beauty. A date with Rhett! When was the last time they had gone out together? She knew that all of Charleston would be talking; she only hoped that her parents wouldn't request that she went home, but then again, Rhett had handled that before.

She sprayed on her perfume as she thought of how he held her in his arms. She shivered with desire at the memory. It had been Rhett who had taught her about desire, her mother had told her that a real lady didn't behave like that, and Scarlett couldn't understand why not. Or why a True Lady was supposed to suffer through something so delightful, taking no joy and only experiencing the pain of child-birth. She would not accept anything except for what she had experienced the night of Ashley's party. Even if she had to suffer his ire to get there. She hadn't been able to help herself from responding to Rhett, and she wondered if she had messed things up, she had certainly slapped him the first time he had kissed her last time, she thought absently. "Scarlett, dear, are you ready?" she heard her aunts voice.

"You look so much like Mother doesn't she Pauline?" her aunt asked her.

"Yes, indeed, she does. If only Ellen hadn't married that Irishman…"

Scarlett didn't like the topic of conversation at all. "I'm proud that Pa is my father," she told her aunt in no uncertain terms.

"Of course you are, my dear," they said humoring her.

"Is it true that the scandalous Butler man is your escort?"

"No, my escort is Captain Rhett Butler," Scarlett said, defending him. "A true gentleman, perhaps, a man that you can never understand, he may not adhere to the Code of the South, but he has honor in spades!" she said and heard his laugh, had he heard her?

"My dear," he asked, holding out his arm. She took it all the while glaring at her aunts. She knew they would write to her mother while she was gone. "Shall we shock Charleston society? I see that your aunts were telling you what a reprobate I am."

"Why should I care what they think?" she asked him.

"Yes, why indeed, my dear Scarlett? If you keep this up you will be committing social suicide," he told her, lazily entwining his fingers with hers.

"Oh, fiddle Dee Dee, who cares what those old biddies think. As long as my mother doesn't send me home," she added.

"Do you like Charleston, my dear?"

"It's a lot more stuck up than Atlanta," she said, "It seems I can't sneeze without my aunts telling me how I'm doing it wrong."

"Indeed. I was once part of Charleston society, but we were always on the outs."

"Tell me about it, Rhett," she said, listening to the cadence of his voice. She had never been interested in anything that didn't have to do with her before but now she found herself curious about the life of her husband, even if they hadn't married yet.

"You know my reputation, how I took out that silly, vapid girl, and how we didn't get home before dark, how Charleston and my father expected me to marry her. It's my own life, and I couldn't see spending it with her, just because that's what society dictates. I wasn't surprised when her brother called me out. My father had already prepared my funeral!" he said, with amusement. "He expected me to do the honorable thing and die."

"How horrible, Rhett," Scarlett said, trying not to think of the prospect of her Rhett, dead, just like Bonnie. Tears shined in her eyes, threatening to spill forth as she thought of Bonnie.

"Cheer up, now. I'm still here. I happened to be a better shot than the man, and I wasn't going to die when I was a better marksman. As you can guess, the heir of Langston Butler alive was the last straw. I might as well have died, as far as he was concerned. There I was penniless, uninherited, and I thrived, I survived, and I spend my ill-gotten gains in ways that would make most ladies swoon."

"You bought a saloon?" Scarlett asked, and Rhett narrowed his eyes, how had she known that? "I once thought about buying one, it is good income after all," she commented. "Steady income?"

"What would a lady like you know about the worth of a dollar bill?"

"Probably the same as you," she responded, her green eyes shooting sparks. "It was the easiest of my subjects at the Fayetteville Academy for girls," she revealed.

"A rarity," he said turning over her hands and kissing them. "A lady with a brain, and one who's not afraid to use it. You are truly unique, Scarlett. I haven't decided yet what I'm to do about you."

"What do you mean, Rhett?" she asked, looking at him sideways.

"I fear that we will meet again, that we aren't done with one another, not by a long shot. Don't marry, Charlie," he told her. She felt like she had the day he had proposed to her, all thoughts except for his command went out of her head.

"I won't," she said as his lips crashed down on hers. Scarlett thought to look around but that thought died almost as soon as it began. She would have held on to him to steady herself, but Rhett had led her to the side of a wall and she was trapped between him and the wall as he plundered her mouth and she responded eagerly, nipping his lips as he had her own. She heard her groan, and growl of frustration.

"Can Charlie make you feel like this?" he asked between kisses. Charlie…who was Charlie she wondered…Charlie….Hamilton. He had been just a boy. Rhett was a man, he was so masculine, and she wondered how it was that he seemed so much more masculine than any man she had ever met. "Will you become my mistress?" he asked her. She sputtered as she came to her senses. As much as she wanted Bonnie, this would never do. She slapped him, and watched as he smiled.

"Rhett Butler! You are a low-down cad if I ever saw one! What would I get out of that except a parcel of brats?"

"Give me another moment, and I'll show you, my dear. You are logical, if nothing else, it's refreshing!" he told her. "Most ladies would be citing moral reasons, not you, my dear Scarlett." She launched herself at him, seeking to hurt him as he had hurt her.

"Quiet, my dear," he said, holding her tiny fists. "I don't wish to ruin your reputation, and if the old guard hears you, it will be ruined. I only suggested that so that we could both be satisfied," he said, with a shrug.

"I would never lay with a man not my husband," she stated, and he nodded.

"Then we do have a problem, I'm not a marrying man."

"Then I will marry Charlie," she replied, "Good day, Captain Butler." Scarlett returned to the group and sat with his sister, Rosemary Butler, who she seemed to get along with more than most girls. "Your brother is impossible!" she told her new friend.


	5. Chapter 5

Letters

In typical Rhett Butler style, Rhett had waited long enough to say good-bye to his mother and sister and had left, to resume blockade running, Scarlett assumed. She fumed as she remember how he had taken off after Ashley's birthday party so that he wouldn't have to face her, then again after her miscarriage, and finally after Melly died. He had a history of running out when things got tough. Scarlett was livid with the fact that he would rather run off than face her and she wondered idly if he was with people like…Belle Watling. Even if Scarlett did confront Belle, another 'Belle' would replace that one. Scarlett had to tend to her problems, and she would not run away. She opened the letters sitting on her dresser that her aunts had left for her to open. They had been stacking up for weeks, since Scarlett wasn't a very good correspondent.

Scarlett opened up a letter from Charlie, wondering if this was the letter that would announce his death.

My Dearest Scarlett,

It seems an eternity since I have last seen your beautiful face and heard the melody of your beautiful voice. Truly, my dear, before you came into my life I had thought such feelings and desires confined to the pages of books, but seeing you, holding your hand, and knowing that you will soon become my wife gives me hope and courage that I never realized I possessed, it gives me the strength to face the Yankees, knowing that I will soon come back to you, and that we will soon be together. I do not wish to worry your pretty little mind with talk of war, but suffice it to say that even though it's tough General Hampton believes as we all believe that this war will be short and victorious, and I will come back to you. I wait eagerly for the day when I will make you my wife. Keep me forever in your heart and your prayers,

Your beloved soon to be husband,

Charlie Hamilton

Scarlett couldn't believe he was so naïve and yet she could, she had seen the same naiveté in his sister. He actually believed this war, would be short lived. Had she by making him wait extended his life? She should be knee-deep in wedding preparations, but she hadn't even thought of a wedding dress, and every day her aunts pestered her about wedding preparations. They wanted her to marry in Charleston. It was a relief when she was able to escape to the Butler household and talk to Rosemary.

"I swear men are all the same, every last one of them, Rosemary!" she said showing Rosemary the letter from Charlie.

"He loves you, Scarlett," Rosemary said softly.

"Did you see what he wrote, don't worry my pretty litte head…I hate that sentiment as if I can't think as well as he can…" Scarlett huffed.

"I know what you mean, Father is the same way. He doesn't like me to read, 'Books put ideas in my head' " Rosemary intoned in her father's voice. "Books are no place for a lady's nose." Rosemary rolled her eyes.

"And he believes that the war will be over soon, he's no better than Frank!" Scarlett snapped, irritated, forgetting that she wasn't supposed to know about Frank.

"Who is Frank?" Rosemary asakd.

"My sister's beau, he's always telling her how to think, and what to do," Scarlett lied easily. "At least your brother appreciates a woman's mind, even if he does have a habit of running off." 

Rosemary's eyes narrowed. "You seem to know my brother well, Scarlett, just what is between you?" Scarlett wasn't sure how to answer that.

"He's not courting me if that's what youre asking or he would have stuck around."

"Rhett's honorable, no matter what you may have heard. He always spoiled me as a child, being so much older than me, and he's always brought me gifts from his travels," Rosemary said.

"I can believe that," Scarlett said, thinking of Bonnie. She had the urge to tell Rosemary about Bonnie, but knew she shouldn't. "I bet once he has a child, that child will have him wrapped around her little finger," Scarlett said, instead.

"Do you often think about children?" Rosemary asked her.

"Not often, but sometimes. I always thought I would have a little girl with hair the same color as my own and eyes as blue as my father's," Scarlett told her. Rosemary had been Bonnie's aunt, would be her aunt, Scarlett thought.

"Not green like your own," Rosemary asked her. "I love children," she told Scarlett, "I always wanted to be a teacher, I still do, but Father's dead set against it," Rosemary told her.

"Someday, Rosemary," Scarlett said, "Perhaps you will take a page out of Rhett's book and do what makes you happy," she said softly. "Rhett seems to do what makes him happy."

"It's so much easier for a man," Rosemary told her, and Scarlett nodded and agreed.

"I've always been very good with figures, I know I'd make a wonderful businesswoman but I know, Rosemary, that society would believe I had unsexed myself especially if I was successful where men had failed," Scarlett stated, speaking from experience.

"You mustn't do such things, I would hate to lose your friendship, you have become most dear to me," she said, and she really did remind Scarlett of a cross between her baby Bonnie and Rhett, Bonnie had had the same way of talking so openly about what she thought and felt, but Scarlett had thought that was just the way of four-year olds even though neither Wade or Ella had been that way.

"I will do whatever I can to remain friends, you must come visit me sometime in Atlanta."

"I will, Scarlett, please be patient with Rhett, he's had a lot to deal with in his life."

"Who hasn't?" Scarlett retorted. "I must be going, I do have a wedding to plan afterall. My aunts wish for me to marry here, but we shall see." Scarlett squeezed her hand as she walked through the door, even though Charlie annoyed her, she knew she had to make plans for their upcoming wedding or else she would begin to look suspicious, and part of her wanted to get Rhett back for all the hateful things he had done, or would do to her over the years. She couldn't believe she had forgotten that he h ad asked her to be his mistress! Of all the low-down things Rhett had ever done! She was still a lady afterall!


	6. Rosemary Butler

_A/N Thanks to everyone who has reviewed, more reviews inspires me to write more chapters, and also there is an except from Uncle Tom's cabin, no infridgement intended._

Rosemary Butler

Rosemary Butler had finally gotten a copy of the book everyone was talking about. Ms. Stowe's 'Uncle Tom's Cabin' that she had heard all the boys talking about, although they would become quiet when they realized she was in the room, and become very closed-mouth about the topic. She knew that the book told the story of slavery. She didn't see what made slavery so bad, it was the way things had always been, and had been a source of contention between her brother and her father. There were many secrets in the Butler's closet, why it was told that her own great- grandfather had pushed for slavery to be added to the Declaration of Independence, that part of his ill-gotten gains had been in the transportation of slaves between the United States and Africa, Rosemary didn't know if it was true or not, but it was one of the rumors about the Butler family that Charleston ate up.

Rosemary fit into Charleston society much better than her elder brother Rhett ever had even if sometimes she wanted to scream over society's idea of a woman's place, in this she and Scarlett were of the same heart. Rosemary understood Scarlett and enjoyed her conversations with the girl immensely, it was as if she was a kindred spirit with similar thoughts and ideas as her own, though Rosemary never voiced them to anyone other than Scarlett. And Scarlett always brought up Rhett in some way, Rosemary was dreadfully afraid that her father would come down the stairs and say in his cold way that Rhett was part of the Butler family and that his name was not to be brought up in this house, after all he wasn't received. It was only Rosemary and her mother that loved and cared for Rhett, her other brother Ross pretended Rhett had never existed, as if there hadn't been a fifth member to the Butler household. Rosemary felt chills fill her as she thought of the day their father had marked Rhett's name out of the family bible as if he didn't exist.

At first, Rosemary had thought that Scarlett O'Hara had only befriended her to get to Rhett, and even if that had been her intention, Rosemary now counted on Scarlett's opinion more than she did her own mother. Personally, both she and her mother believed that Rhett and Scarlett would make a striking couple and that Southern society would never be the same again if they were to unite. However, there was the problem of Scarlett's engagements and her nagging aunts pushing for the wedding. Rosemary didn't know if Scarlett loved Charles Hamilton or not, but from the letters Scarlett had showed her that Charlie was enamored with the beautiful plantation princess; Katie Scarlet O'Hara. Rosemary put aside 'Uncle Tom's Cabin' although she had been yearning to read it and put quill to parchment as she wrote in neat handwriting.

'My obtuse older brother, Rhett

Is it true that you are enamored with Scarlett, the princess of Tara? For all that I know that she has the tiniest waist and is the belle of five counties, I would not have thought of you to turn tail and run just because of a few misspoken words. I fear that Scarlett may be rash, and is ready to marry Charles Hamilton. I know that your happiness hinges on this event, some foresight, or some ancestor of ours that may have been a gypsy, gives me this knowledge. Scarlett asks about you even in the midst of her wedding plans to Charles Hamilton. Please do not miss the opportunity to set things right. I do not believe that your reputation matters to Tara's princess, please consider both yours and her reputation when you arrive. Do not take too long and miss your chance. I only wish that I felt for someone the way that you and Scarlett feel for one another, it doesn't take a moron to see what is between you. Please, you know I mean this in the kindest way possible. In other news, I have finally procured a copy of 'Uncle Tom's Cabin, have you read it, Rhett? I look forward to discussing both this and your relationship with Scarlett when you arrive.

Your nosy sister,

Rosemary Butler

Rosemary found Hercules, a slave that had always been with her family and gave him the letter to address, he always seemed to know where Rhett was. "Make sure this gets to Rhett, please, it is a matter of dire importance," she told Hercules, narrowing her gray eyes, eyes inherited from her father on him.

"Yes'm Miss Rosemary, I's git it to him as soon as Ah kin. You kin count on me, Ms. Rosemary." Rosemary smiled at him.

"I know, Hercules, it's a matter of dire importance, that's all. Lives hang in the balance, afterall," she told him before giving him leave. She settled into the book and Hercules looked back at her.

"Ma'm, wut you doing reading that there book?" he asked her, since Rosemary had been the one to teach him to read, he could understand the words, Rosemary although not opposed to slavery believed it was in everyone's best interest black or white to learn to decipher the words on a page. "Ah've heard 'em talkin' bout that there book. When your finished with it might Ah read it. 'Course it's no book for white ladies, ma'm."

"You may read it when I finish, and hush up all books are worthy of the information within them," Rosemary said, as she turned the page, as she read 'But now what? Why, now comes my master, takes me right away from my work, and my friends, and all I like, and grinds me down into the very dirt! And why? Because, he says, I forgot who I was; he says, to teach me that I am only a nigger! After all, and last of all, he comes between me and my wife, and says I shall give her up, and live with another woman. And all this your laws give him power to do, in spite of God or man. Mr. Wilson, look at it! There isn't one of all these things, that have broken the hearts of my mother and my sister, and my wife and myself, but your laws allow, and give every man power to do, in Kentucky, and none can say to him nay! Do you call these the laws of my country? Sir, I haven't any country, anymore than I have any father. But I'm going to have one. I don't want anything of your country, except to be let alone,-to go peaceably out of it; and when I get to Canada, where the laws will own me and protect me, that shall be my country, and its laws I will obey. But if any man tries to stop me, let him take care, for I am desperate. I'll fight for my liberty to the last breath I breathe. You say your fathers did it; if it was right for them, it is right for me!'

Rosemary put the book down and contemplated what she had read. She could see now why this was the book on everyone's tongues and she now thought about the meaning against the ideals she was raised against. It was with relief that Hercules came to tell her that Scarlett O'Hara had come to call on her. "Yes, show her into the parlor," Rosemary responded as she looked over at the pretty girl, who had fast become her best friend.

"What am I going to do, Rose," Scarlett, said wringing her hands, as she shortened her friend's name in distress. "Charlie's coming home, they've given him leave from the War. He's coming here to Charleston, and he will be here by the end of the month. He's written that his sister, Melanie and Aunt Pitty will be arriving before him, in two weeks time, and my aunts have already opened their home to Melly and Aunt Pitty. What am I to do?" Scarlett asked.

"Do you love Charlie?" Rosemary asked her.

"Rose, I don't KNOW Charlie!" Scarlett all but screamed, seemingly on the verge of hysteria. "You don't understand, he wasn't supposed to live this long," she said as big, fat tears escaped to run across her cheeks as she collapsed on Rosemary's couch. Rosemary's eyes narrowed, but she didn't comment. She grabbed a hankercheif and handed it to Scarlett. It was monogramed with Rosemary's initials, of course all the Butler children had the same initials. Scarlett fingered it. "It this Rhett's?" she asked.

"No, it's mine. Rosemary Kaitlyn Butler, at your service," Rosemary said with a bow as she imitated her brother. Rhett's middle name was our mother's maiden name," Rosemary explained. "Rhett Kenshaw Butler, and my other brother is Ross Kinkaid Butler," Rosemary finished, Scarlett giggled a little.

"And I thought my family had strange names," she said, cheered out of her mood momentarily.

"Scarlett you have a beautiful name, why just imagine if you had ended up with a name like Pansy, your life would never be the same!" Scarlett smiled at Rosemary before the smile disappeared.

"Oh, Rose, what will I do."

"You will just have to tell Charles that you don't love him, unless of course you do. Although many couples are rushing into marriage because of the Cause," Rosemary said, "You could explain that when there isn't a war looming overhead and you are able to get to know him better then that would be a better time to expect a marriage, why rush into a marriage that may not last?" Rosemary asked.

Rosemary's advice was so simple, so considerate that Scarlett smiled and found herself embracing her friend. "What did I ever do without you?" she asked, vowing that this time she would show emotion, that she would let people know just how much she cared before it was too late, and that included her parents, her child, her husband, her friends, and her new friend Rose.


	7. Chapter 7

_A/N: I still plan on Wade and Ella being born tho not quite in the same way, I don't know if this was a little fast or not but let me know what you think_

The Hamilton's

Melanie Hamilton Wilkes and her Aunt Pitty-Pat Hamilton, christened Sarah Jane, were taking a train to Charleston, South Carolina to stay with and get to know Scarlett O'Hara, her brother Charlie's intended. "My dear," Aunt Pitty was saying, "Scarlett's aunts are so good to let us stay. Do you think Charleston society will like me?" Melanie reached over and squeezed her aunt's hand.

"Aunt Pitty, everyone will love you, do you think Charlie would marry someone who wouldn't love us?" Melanie asked. "I can hardly wait until I see Charles. He should be in Charleston by the end of the month, and we will be there with Scarlett to greet them."

"Melanie, you are such a dear sweet girl," Pitty said taking strength from her niece's conviction. "There used to be such talk about Miss O'Hara," Pitty said remembering. "Why Cousin India told us what a fast piece of baggage she was."

"Aunt Pitty, you mustn't say such things about Charlie's bride," Melanie scolded her gently, as their stop was called. Melanie turned to get her bags but came to stop at a familiar man with darker skin, skin that some might say looked Indian, and he was well-dressed wearing a wide-brimmed palmetto hat, with jet back-hair and mustache.

"Mrs. Wilkes, allow me," he said as he took her bags.

"Why Captain Butler, it is a pleasure to see you, I last saw you at my husband's home."

"It's very kind of you to remember me, but Mrs. Wilkes what are you doing in Charleston?"

"Aunt Pitty and I, we are on our way to visit my brother Charlie's intended, did you meet Miss Scarlett O'Hara at Twelve Oaks?" she asked.

"Yes, I believe I did," Rhett said with a faint smile on his lips. "I hope you will feel welcome in Charleston, may I share my carriage with you?" he asked.

"My, oh, my…my smelling salts," Aunt Pitty clammed near faint.

"I can easily drop you off at Eulalie Ward's," he told her.

"You know Mrs. Ward?" Melanie asked.

"I do, she is good friends with my mother."

"Then you are from Charleston?" Melanie asked taking in the way his eyes twinkled. She could hardly refuse him when he seemed so kind, so generous.

"Yes, I guess this is my…hometown," Rhett said with more than a bit of bitterness in his voice. "I still have family here. My mother is friends with Mrs. Ward, in fact I wouldn't be surprised if she was entertaining either my mother or my sister at the moment, and it would definitely save me a trip," Rhett told Melanie.

"Well, then we would be happy to accept." Rhett set the bags in his carriage that Oedipus had arranged for him after he had sent the telegram at his last stop. Rhett knew that most of his family's slaves were named for famous literary characters as they had all seen the classics as necessary in life, even before he had started school he had been able to speak the Greek lines from Oedipus and the Odyssey, had known most of Shakespeare's plays as well as the difference between the tragedies and the comedies. He would have excelled at West Point if…he hadn't gotten expelled. Rhett hadn't been upset over his expulsion after all he had only done what he had believed was right, and that was the way Rhett lived, with a clear conscience. Rhett thought of his sister's letter, which was why he was here, would Scarlett really go through with marrying Charlie, and should he apologist for asking her to be his mistress? She had obviously been expecting a request of the most honorable of natures, should he make the same offer as the honorable Charles Hamilton? Rhett didn't know what would happen when he again saw Scarlett O'Hara but it was sure to be interesting.

"Whoa," he told his horse, Macbeth, as he pulled him to a stop along with another horse he had acquired Antigone. He watched as Oedipus got out and grabbed the ladies bags. Normally, he would have driven himself but his mother had insisted on Oedipus and Rhett didn't like to argue with his mother, if it had been his father, Rhett would probably had taken Oedipus straight home before returning. He didn't like being dependent on any man or woman, white or black. Rhett Kershaw Butler was dependent upon himself. Rhett stayed at the carriage as he watched and waited as Scarlett's aunts answered the door.

Mrs. Wilkes and Ms. Hamilton were quickly ushered inside, and despite his sister's warning to think of their combined reputations, Rhett slipped around the back, wondering which room was Scarlett's. He looked down at the loose gravel on the ground and started to toss it at a window before he realized it was half-open. With all the grace of the pirate that many Butler's believed he looked like, he reached up and grabbed onto the ledge hoisting himself over and in, in one fluid movement. He stood up and looked down at the red plush carpet and just hoped this wasn't the room Mrs. Wilkes or Ms. Hamilton was supposed to stay in. He heard a gun being cocked at his head and heard a terse voice asking him.

"Who are you and just what do you want?" Rhett Butler blinked rapidly, never in all his years had he been caught with a gun pointed at his back, despite the debacle he had made with sleeping with other men's wives. Stunned, it took a moment for Rhett to realize that it was a women's voice, not a man's. The voice had been so cold, as if that person could kill him where he stood, and he had never imagined a feminine voice sounding that way.

"I warn you sir, I have killed before and I will do it again, it makes no difference to me," the voice continued. "Turn around, and identify yourself, sir, you are no gentleman." Rhett turned around slowly, reaching into his jacket pocket and pulling out a cigar and cigarette case and lighting the cigar, casually, as if he didn't have a car in the world.

"Great Balls of Fire, Rhett! What are you doing sneaking into my room?" Scarlett asked, the coldness leaving her voice. "I could have shot you." Rhett smirked, noticing her state of undress. She was wearing just her pantalets and chemise, but she didn't seem to notice or care.

"I'm curious, my pet," Rhett drawled in his southern Charlestonian accent, "Just where did you acquire a pistol?" He hadn't failed to notice, that although she didn't shoot him, she hadn't lowered the pistol either.

"Is that any of your affair? Just what are you doing here?" she asked, firing her questions at him rapidly.

"I'll tell you if you'll put that pistol away, my dear." Scarlett lowered the pistol, and after a moment she sighed and tossed it on the vanity.

"I'm here to save your life, my pet." Scarlett glared at him; he would make such a joke at a time like this.

"Rhett, we can't talk here, it's not proper."

"You mean to force me to marry you?" he asked his voice tight. Scarlett laughed.

"Force you?" she asked gaily. "It's not I that snuck into your room but you that snuck into mine. Why?" she asked him. Rhett shrugged, he didn't really have an answer for her, and she was right, if he were caught in here with Scarlett's state of undress he would have compromised her, and be forced to marry her, or her father or Charles would call him out. The thought didn't make him sick like he had expected, and now that the gun was gone, Rhett couldn't help but stare at what the chemise and palettes left exposed. Rhett closed the distance between them and cupped her face.

"Why do you torture me so?" he half-asked, half-moaned, as he looked into her cat-like green eyes. He ran his fingers through her hair. "Ever since the first time I saw you confessing your love to Major Ashley Wilkes, I haven't been able to get you out of my head. I've never wanted anyone as much as I wanted you."

Scarlett's heart thumped loudly as Rhett moved his other hand to her arm, putting his finger over the vein that ran there as it sped up. He smirked at her. "What is it that you see in the wooden-headed, Mr. Wilkes?"

"Uh…." Scarlett had no answer. "I thought he was honorable," Scarlett said trying to remember, as his lips came to crush upon hers once again. Scarlett lost herself in the kiss as he kissed her, possessing her, owning her, leaving her breathless and a little off-balanced.

"None of the men you have ever been with have kissed you like this, have they? Not Charles or your stupid Ashley?" She had closed her eyes the moment his lips had touched her own, and now she opened them and looked up at him…was that jealously she saw in his face, in his eyes.

"We have to stop meeting like this," she told Rhett breathlessly. "Rhett…you make me feel faint. Don't hold me like that. I can't think when you do, I fear I shall faint."

"This is what you were meant for," he told her, and before he knew what he was saying the words were out of his mouth, "Marry me, Scarlett, say you will marry me. I can't bear for you to marry another." Scarlett looked at him doubtful, too be sure that had been too easy. "I've wanted you more than I've ever wanted a woman." There was no way he was proposing so easily, when it had taken so long before. What would Mother and Pa say? Great Balls of Fire, she had forgotten she would have to get their permission, and Melly and Aunt Pitty had just arrived what would they think….that was her last coherent thought as his lips crashed against hers again, his lips teasing her own, as he nibbled on them before thrusting his tongue inside her mouth to do battle with her own. He pulled away and cupped her face, and something tender grew within her. "Say yes."

"Yes," she whispered, just one syllable that would set her life on a much different course.

"You don't want to take it back."

"No, never, Rhett." Rhett kissed her again and his hands seemed to roam everywhere setting her on fire, and it was just then that she remembered how she was dressed as her chemise plunged to reveal the tops of her bosoms, which Rhett's hands held and molded as the breathe was sucked from her lungs, she could barely move.

"I don't suppose you would let me take my husbandly duty before our wedding, my dear?" she shook her head no, and heard what he was between a laugh and a groan escape. "You don't want to take it back; you weren't swept off your feet, my dear."

"Rhett, I will marry you," she said, before she heard a knock on her door. Rhett dove under the bed and Scarlett straightened her chemise as Aunt Eulalie came in.

"Scarlett dear, Melanie and her aunt Pity have come all this way to see you."

"I'll be out in a minute, I want to look my best when I see them," Scarlett said, as Eulalie came into the room and put a hand on Scarlett's head.

"My dear you look flushed, I will tell them that you are unwell today, you should get some rest."

"Alright, auntie," Scarlett replied, as her aunt kissed her cheek.

"I'll have some soup sent up in a bit. You should get better before Charles arrives."

"Of course, Auntie," Scarlett replied as her aunt hugged her and left. Scarlett ducked down to see Rhett on his back trying to muffle his laughter.

"What a cool lie you are, my dear," he said as she helped pull him out, he pulled her on top of him and Scarlett blushed. "You are going to have to call it off, Scarlett, with Charlie, if you want to marry me. Now tell me what kind of ring would you like," he asked her looking up into her sparking green eyes.

"A diamond and an emerald, and a great big one, please Rhett." He lifted her off of him and went to the window.

"Rhett, you won't tell anyone will you?" she asked, his only answer was a laugh as he disappeared.


	8. Facing the Parents

Facing the Parents

Rhett Kershaw Butler couldn't believe that he, the man who had chased after the Gold Rush defending his territory with naught but a knife, the man who been more pirate than sailor, the man who owned his own ships, who was a blockade runner, was finally going to settle down and marry a woman, more of a girl really, that passed for a lady. Scarlett O' Hara would see be Scarlett Butler. What was he thinking? What wasn't he thinking? The girl drove him to madness. Rhett wondered what the O'Hara's would think of his marrying their eldest daughter. He had to talk to his mother, how else would the O'Hara's allow him to marry their daughter? The thought hadn't even occurred to him that he would have to convince Scarlett's father that he could make a good husband for his eldest and favorite daughter.

There was only one way Rhett would be able to make Katie Scarlett O'Hara Mrs. Rhett K. Butler. He had to see his mother, which meant visiting his childhood home, which meant possibly seeing her father. Rhett headed back to the hotel and showered, enjoying the feel of the hot water beating on his body. He hastily toweled dry, and began shaving. There was a small feeling of nervousness when he thought of his father. He hadn't seen him in over twenty years; he hadn't been to his father's house in over twenty years, ever since his name had been erased from the Butler family bible. Rhett finished dressing and grabbed a cane and his panama hat as he walked down the street to his parents' home.

The door opened for Rhett before he even turned up the drive, and Rhett could see the old house slave opening the door, surprised written over his ancient features. "Master Rhett?" Hercules asked. "Is that really you?"

Rhett smiled easily, even if the smile didn't quite reach his eyes. "Yes, Hercules, it's me."

"Good Lordly, the prodigal son returns," Hercules said, in awe.

"Hardly. Hercules, is my mother at home?"

"Yes, sir, Master Rhett, but I's tole that if ya eva returned here to take ya straight to see Master Langston," Hercules said, and then with a sheepish grin, "I's not supposed to tell ya that Mrs. Eleanor is in the library, I's want to thank you fer what ya did fer my wife, bout doin yer best fer her up to the end, even if it meant goin against Master Langston," Hercules told him, and Rhett patted his shoulder.

"You are a good man, Hercules, and a loyal one," Rhett said as he headed for the library only to be stopped by his sister.

"Rhett, Rhett, is that you? Really you?" Rosemary squealed like a young girl. "I'm so glad your home!" Rosemary threw her arms around her older brother, and heard the low, rumbling laughter of her brother.

"It's good to see you too, Rosemary," he said, kissing the top of her head, before releasing her to look at her. She twirled around at his insistence. "You look beautiful," he told her. "Father is going to have a time fighting to keep the young bucks off of you. Perhaps, when I marry I'll sponsor you."

"When?" Rosemary asked, as she looked into her brother's eyes. "I never thought I would see the day, Rhett Butler, in love. My stars," Rosemary said, stalking around him like a panther, as she took in everything around him, he was happy, so very happy, that it made Rosemary laugh a high tinkling sound.

"When what?" Rhett asked, in a tight voice, trying to hide the truth from her, and as he was doing that his mother came in, to check on the voices outside the library.

"Rhett…I never thought I would see the day that Rhett Butler would grace my door again," she said, drawing him into her embrace. "Rosemary, dear, please keep your voice down," she said, with a smile, flashing perfect white teeth, that both Rhett and Rosemary had inherited. "Come inside, Rhett. Rosemary, go talk to your father dear," Eleanor said as she closed the library door behind her and Rosemary left to discuss politics with her father, even though it wasn't proper to talk politics to a young lady, her father had very few people that would discuss it with him.

Eleanor smiled at her son's worried expression. "I love Ross and Rosemary beyond my own life," Eleanor told him, "But I love you to distraction my son, now tell me why you would brave this home, and how I can help?" she said sitting down while he paced.

"Mother, you know I never wanted to marry."

"Yes, I remember quite well," Eleanor said, humoring him.

"I've asked Scarlett O'Hara to marry me," he hedged.

"Scarlett O'Hara….Scarlett ….Eulalie Ward's niece, the Robbilard. Why I remember when her mother Ellen was born. The grandfather Pierre Robbilard and Solange set off fireworks whenever she had a child, and you were so scared," Eleanor trailed off remembering how her son as a toddler had cried and screamed for safety.

"I need to convince her parents to allow her to marry me?" Rhett explained.

"And Scarlett?"

"She's accepted, Mother."

"Well, who wouldn't want to marry my son?"

"She's no Margaret," Rhett said, referring to his sister-in-law.

"I know, son, I have met the charming vixen, afterall. I will speak with Eulalie and Pauline, and will write a letter to both Pierre and Ellen," Eleanor stated. "You do know that Eulalie nearly married my brother, God rest his soul…" Eleanor said, lost in memories.

"Thank you, Mother. I need to buy her a ring, I will be going overseas for a while. Write me and let me know when the wedding of Charles Hamilton is cancelled," Rhett said, as he stopped pacing.

"Do you love her son?"

"What does that matter, Mother, you know of the betrothals, of the contracts, of how marriage is just a contract?"

"I may have that kind of marriage, but that is not a marriage I want for my children. A mother wants better for her children than for herself," Eleanor attempted to explain. "But you haven't answered my question, son. How do you feel about Scarlett O'Hara?"

"She's like me," Rhett said, pulling out a book and then replacing it while he paced. "We are very much alike, selfish, and greedy, we don't follow the rules of Southern society, and I've never wanted to possess someone as much as I want her."

"Rhett…"

"I know what you are going to say mother, but it's not like that. I can't stand the thought of her being married to another man, I could shoot Charlie now if I thought she would marry him."

Eleanor stood up and hugged her son. "I will do what I can, but I'll make no promises. Go to Europe and find Scarlett a ring, when you get back go visit Gerald O'Hara in Clayton County, I will do what I can."

"That's all I ask," Rhett said as he leaned down and kissed his mother's cheek. Rhett hadn't been able to not notice how shabby the house was, his father was becoming quite closed fist, and that was why he had stuck some money in the book he had pulled out. As Rhett walked out of the library he came face to face with his father. Langston Butler was a thin man, much thinner than his eldest son, and he was clean shaven, not a touch of hair on his face, he was going bald prematurely, and the light in his dark eyes had faded in his overzelousness of his devout religion. Langston's voice shook with power as he asked quietly.

"Have you asked forgiveness for your many sins?" Rhett stared at the old man, his own dark eyes narrowing, as the corner of his lip twitched as they hardened and smoothed, his nose flaring, and that was the only sign of his anger. A stranger wouldn't have known that these two were very angry at one another although they might have remarked on the similarties between the fragile old man and the strong younger man, they shared the same dark hair, the same piercing eyes, and perhaps at one time they had shared many more qualities. While the father believed in his Baptist upbringing the son believed in God and not religion, their differences ran much deeper than that.


End file.
